Asia Argento

"As somebody who did everything, but didn't know how to do anything." -Asia Argento, on how she would like to be remembered

While every Italian knows who Asia Argento is, possibly the only Americans who do are those that went to see B. Monkey or New Rose Hotel -- which doesn't account for much of the populace. But if Asia isn't a household name in the West by the time you read this article, she certainly will be soon: she's starring alongside Vin Diesel in xXx.

SEX APPEAL

Italian women get our hormones raging, especially those who pose nude for magazines and do steamy erotic scenes in movies. Add to these qualifications the fact that Asia is also a stunning beauty and incredibly wealthy, and you're left with one sexy woman.

SUCCESS

Asia is the kind of girl who inspires 60-year-olds to kick themselves for not having done more with their lives. At the age of 26, she can already boast having been an actor, a director, a published novelist, and a lead singer, performing with such Italian bands as Royalize.

If that isn't enough to send you into an envy-driven rage, perhaps we should add that she's managed to find success in all of these fields, particularly in the film industry. Alongside the acting awards that she's piled up, Asia has also been the recipient of the Rome Film Festival Award for her documentary on Abel Ferrara, as well as the Best New Director trophy at the Williamsburg Brooklyn Film Festival for Scarlet Diva, which she wrote, directed and starred in.

Furthermore, Asia's native language hasn't proven a barrier to her international success, as is often the case with foreign actors. In addition to the host of roles she has enacted in her mother tongue, Asia has performed in French (in 1994's La Reine Margot and the 2001 TV mini-series adaptation of Les Miserables) and English, taking on roles in Trauma, B. Monkey and New Rose Hotel.

Asia Argento Biography

Asia Argento was born in Rome, Italy, on September 20, 1975, to renowned Italian horror film director Dario Argento (the son of producer Salvatore Argento) and his companion, actress Daria Nicolodi.

born to be wild

It was fitting that Asia, who would go on to lead a life that could only be described as unique, would find herself immediately positioned counter to the status quo: The city's registry office refused to acknowledge "Asia" as an appropriate name, and instead officially inscribed her as Aria Argento.

Nevertheless, Asia retained the name that her parents had chosen for her, and embarked on a lifestyle of eccentricity and privilege that comes with growing up in the entertainment industry. For three days following her birth, her parents projected Gone with the Wind on the living room wall.

As Asia grew older, she was gradually exposed to other genres of film, notably her father's slasher movies, beginning when she was six years old with a viewing of Deep Red -- a film which, incidentally, starred her mother. It wasn't long before the Argento household was hosting horror screenings for the neighborhood kids, the popularity of which increased after the Argentos became the first owners of a Betamax player in all of Italy.

asia argento keeps it in the family

Given her lineage and environment, it seemed natural that the young Asia be predisposed to pursuing a profession in entertainment. At the age of nine, she began following in her mother's footsteps, making her debut acting performance in Sergio Citti's Sogni e bisogni.

In 1989, she was cast in the leading role in Cristina Comencini's Zoo, for which she earned an Italian Ciak Award -- the rough equivalent of a Golden Globe. In 1989, she appeared in La Chiesa, and later that same year she played a part in Nanni Moretti's Palombella rossa.

Asia's breakthrough role came in 1992 with Le Amiche del cuore, a performance that demonstrated her range and capacity to make the transition from child actor to mature professional, capable of handling complex roles. The movie was well received at the Cannes Film Festival and by the industry community at large, including Dario Argento, who went on to cast his daughter in 1993's Trauma, her English language debut. Asia went on to act in two more of her father's films: 1996's La Sindrome di Stendhal and 1998's Il Fantasma dell'opera.

asia argento's on her own

Yet any suggestions that nepotism played a role in Asia's early successes are quickly squashed by her list of awards. She received the David di Donatello (Italy's response to Hollywood's Academy Award) for Best Actress in 1994 for her performance in Perdiamoci di vista!, and again in 1996 for Compagna di viaggio, which also earned her a Grolla d'oro Award. In 1998, Asia began flaunting her talents to the West, appearing in the American movies B. Monkey and New Rose Hotel (1998), alongside Christopher Walken, and Hostage (2005)with Bruce Willis.

Asia has also proven her ability to work in multiple tongues, adding French to the list of languages in which she has performed, with a role in 1994's La Reine Margot. That same year, she made her first foray into directing, calling the shots behind the short films, Prospettive and A ritroso. In 1996, she directed a documentary on her father, and in 1998 a second one on Abel Ferrara, which won her the Rome Film Festival Award. Her feature directorial debut came in 2000's Scarlet Diva, a film that she also and starred in.

asia argento's a bad girl

While Asia is certainly a celebrity in her native country, the coverage that the Italian press showers on her is not always favorable. She has drawn criticism for her openness toward drug use and posing nude, as well as the deeply erotic scenes she has performed in, particularly those that her father has filmed.

In 2001, a great deal of attention was drawn to an alleged hit-and-run that Asia was involved in, and her position in this incident wasn't helped by the fact that a bottle of absinthe was found in her car (the liqueur was to be used as a prop in a music video that Asia was directing).

In June of 2001, Asia gave birth to her first child, Anna Lou. The father is musician Marco Castoldi ("Morgan") from the Italian band Bluvertigo. In addition to her accomplishments in the world of film, Asia has written a number of stories for magazines such as Dynamo and L'Espresso, while her first novel, titled I Love You, Kirk, was published in Italy in 1999.